Unlocking science and technology resources to help Vietnam take off

TP - The Politburo has just issued Resolution 57 on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, establishing a Central Steering Committee headed by General Secretary To Lam. Tien Phong Newspaper organizes a series of articles presenting opinions of experts, scientists and management agencies on solutions to remove bottlenecks, unlock resources, and help science and technology truly become the driving force for Vietnam to take off in a new era, an era of national growth.

Part 1: Removing financial bottlenecks Investment resources for research and development of science and technology in Vietnam are very modest compared to other countries in the region and the world. In addition, the inappropriate financial mechanism is considered the biggest bottleneck that has constrained the development of science and technology in recent years. According to experts, removing the bottleneck will help Vietnam's science and technology make a breakthrough. Lack of resources Emphasizing the role of science and technology as a top national policy, Resolution 20 of the 11th Party Central Committee determined to strongly mobilize social capital and foreign capital sources to invest in science and technology development. Increase total social investment in science and technology to 1.5% of GDP in 2015, over 2% of GDP in 2020 and about 3% of GDP in 2030. Increase state investment in science and technology to ensure at least 2% of total annual state budget expenditure.

Viettel scientists research and develop 5G technology. Photo: VHT

However, in reality, in recent years, the total expenditure from the state budget for science and technology has not reached 2% while social resources, especially capital from the business sector, have not been tapped, making the resources for science and technology development in Vietnam very modest. In the period 2020-2022, according to data from the State Audit, the average state budget investment for science and technology is 17,494 billion VND/year, accounting for 1.01% of total budget expenditure, reaching 0.2% of GDP, much lower than the average level of countries in the region and the world. According to Dr. Nguyen Quan, former Minister of Science and Technology, the budget for science and technology investment in Vietnam is very modest, most of which is spent on regular activities such as salaries and investment. The direct funding for research activities is very low. Dr. Nguyen Quan said that Resolution 57's proposal to spend 3% of the total budget expenditure on science and technology is very encouraging. "If 10-11% of that 3% can be spent on research and application activities, it will create a leap forward for science and technology," said Dr. Quan. At Viettel Military Industry and Telecommunications Group in recent years, about 10,000 billion VND has been allocated for research and development activities each year. According to Mr. Tao Duc Thang, Chairman and General Director of the Group, the above funding source has helped the Group complete many important projects assigned by the Party, State and Army, creating very important research results, in which Viettel's 5G equipment and technology are exported to many countries. From the practical experience of the enterprise, Mr. Thang said that if the goal of 2% of GDP for R&D is achieved by 2030, approximately 9 billion USD/year, it will be a resource to strongly promote Vietnam's science and technology research and development activities. Viettel Group's leaders also said that, along with the additional resources, there should be guidance on the effective deployment and use of this budget source. This resource should be focused on technology research projects that play a fundamental and comprehensive role such as semiconductor technology, low-altitude satellites, and dual-use defense industry.

Research and training activities at Phenikaa University Hanoi. Photo: Truong Anh

Associate Professor Dr. Ta Hai Tung, Principal of the University of Information and Communication Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that in order to strongly promote scientific and technological research activities, it is necessary to unlock resources from enterprises. He shared that the Law on Science and Technology stipulates that enterprises are allowed to deduct a maximum of 10% of their income subject to corporate income tax for research and development activities. However, the lack of clarity in the guiding documents has hindered the unlocking of this large and important source of funding. Associate Professor Tung hopes that the ongoing amendment of the Law on Science and Technology will contribute to unlocking this resource. He also said that the country is still facing difficulties, the state budget still has to spend on many development contents, so it is necessary to avoid spreading investment. "Current investment must be accompanied by accountability with a commitment to specifically measure output. The more effectively a unit operates, the more investment it will receive to continue to develop further, leading the whole system to rise up," Associate Professor Tung said. Removing the mechanism According to Dr. Nguyen Quan, not only limited resources, the state budget allocation for research and technology application activities has many shortcomings, becoming the biggest barrier to the development of science and technology. The former Minister of Science and Technology gave an example, developed countries use the Fund mechanism to finance research and application activities, but in Vietnam, the outdated method is to build budget estimates according to the fiscal year. Therefore, researches have to wait for funding from one to many years, from the time of proposal and order from the state. This greatly reduces science and technology activities, causing great difficulties for scientists. Dr. Nguyen Quan shared that Resolution 20 of the 11th Party Central Committee mentioned the mechanism of using Science and Technology Development Funds to grant funding for research and application, but in reality, it has not been done. He proposed that Vietnam should establish and re-establish State Science and Technology Development Funds in all local ministries and sectors, as a lever to promote research activities and remove bottlenecks in the current financial mechanism. Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha, Director of the Key Laboratory of Refining and Petrochemical Technology, shared the reality that when carrying out science and technology tasks from the State budget, scientists encounter a "matrix" of difficulties from the financial mechanism. She said that sometimes they spend up to 50% of their energy doing work that has nothing to do with science, but if they don't do it, they cannot carry out the task. The female professor raised the question: "Why don't we always put the title of the research paper with a budget to reduce at least 5-7 meetings where scientists and science managers are always haggling over every penny". The female professor also believes that some suitable fields of science and technology need to boldly implement the fund mechanism and allocate expenditure to the final product, reduce all intermediate procedures while ensuring effective financial management, aiming at the set goals, liberating 100% of the capacity and energy of scientists to devote to their expertise. If this can be done, it will create motivation for scientists to passionately contribute.

Focus on liberating science and technology resources Resolution 57 sets the target that by 2030, the budget for research and development (R&D) will reach 2% of GDP, of which social funding accounts for more than 60%, allocating at least 3% of the total annual budget for science and technology development, innovation, national digital transformation and gradually increasing according to development requirements. The Resolution also states that an important solution to unlock science and technology resources is to urgently amend, supplement, and synchronously complete legal regulations on science, technology, investment, public investment, public procurement, state budget, public assets, intellectual property, taxes, etc. to remove bottlenecks and barriers, liberate resources, encourage and develop science, technology, innovation, national digital transformation, and human resource development. Implement reforms in management methods, deploy science and technology tasks suitable for each type of research; Reforming the financial management mechanism in the implementation of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation tasks, maximally simplifying administrative procedures; granting autonomy in the use of funds for scientific research and technology development. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Diep, Director of the Legal Department (Ministry of Science and Technology), the Ministry is reviewing institutional bottlenecks in current scientific and technological research and development activities to propose specific regulations in the Draft Law on Science and Technology Amendment to remove bottlenecks and unblock resources for scientific and technological research and development.

NGUYEN HOAI - Tienphong.vn

Source: https://tienphong.vn/khoi-thong-nguon-luc-khoa-hoc-cong-nghe-dua-viet-nam-cat-canh-post1708987.tpo